Project Life Movement

What Project Life Movement does

Project Life Movement (PLM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1990 by students at Davidson College in Charlotte, North Carolina, and currently operating with a team of approximately 18 employees plus campus-based volunteers. Its mission is to grow the global bone marrow and stem cell donor registry by recruiting young, healthy, ethnically diverse college students through cheek-swab registration drives on more than 50 university campuses, with particular emphasis on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to address minority underrepresentation in the registry.

PLM's core offerings are services rather than software products. They consist of in-person campus donor recruitment drives, the Campus Ambassador Program (a student internship pipeline), the 15 Minutes to Save a Life guest speaker program, and a financial donation acceptance platform. PLM does not operate proprietary donor-management technology; donor registration data and matching logistics are handled by its clinical partner, Gift of Life Marrow Registry, whose mobile app PLM leverages for cheek-swab registration.

PLM's go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, relying on campus ambassadors, Greek organization partnerships (e.g., Delta Zeta's Sweet Caroline mega-drive), athletic conference affiliations, and a high-profile National Ambassador relationship with NFL Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly. The organization is funded entirely by individual donations, corporate philanthropy events (such as the Fall Philanthropy Lunch at the Duke Mansion), and charitable grants, with no fees charged to donors and no commercial revenue stream. It is governed by an Executive Director (Ann Henegar) and a Board of Directors, with no parent company, private equity, or venture capital ownership indicated in the source material.

Name

Project Life Movement

Legal name

Project Life Movement

Website

https://projectlifemovement.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Project Life Movement is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that recruits young, diverse bone marrow and stem cell donors on U.S. college campuses through cheek-swab registration drives, partnering with Gift of Life Marrow Registry to add registrants to the global registry.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Bone Marrow Donor Recruitment

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

akta.pro primary industry

Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations (BPAGACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Unpaid/Volunteer-Linked Work Placement Programs (EDAIAFAE)

Keywords

• Bone marrow registry
• Donor recruitment services
• Stem cell donation
• Campus nonprofit outreach
• Charitable healthcare programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute financial support to fund campus events, educational materials, and operational costs. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all contributions are tax-deductible.
2. Corporate Philanthropy: Corporate sponsors and foundations provide funding through grants and charitable donations. The organization hosts corporate events like the Fall Philanthropy Lunch to engage business community support.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Project Life Movement recruits college students to join the global bone marrow and stem cell donor registry through in-person campus drives, a student ambassador program, and short educational presentations. Registered donors join the global registry via a simple cheek swab; clinical matching and transplant coordination are handled by clinical partner Gift of Life Marrow Registry. The organization funds its operations through charitable donations and corporate philanthropy.

Product overview

Project Life Movement (PLM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does not sell a software product; rather, it delivers in-person services focused on growing the global stem cell and bone marrow donor registry, primarily on college campuses. Its core offerings consist of campus donor recruitment drives (cheek swab registration events), the Campus Ambassador Program (a student internship to organize drives), the 15 Minutes to Save a Life guest speaker program, and a financial donation acceptance service. Donor registration data is managed by PLM's clinical partner, Gift of Life Marrow Registry, which also provides its own mobile app for donors. The portfolio is unified under PLM's single mission of saving lives by adding diverse donors to the registry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Campus Donor Recruitment Drives In-person events at colleges and universities where trained volunteers and PLM staff register students on the global stem cell and bone marrow registry using simple cheek-swab kits. These drives are PLM's primary mechanism for growing the donor database and include targeted events such as Greek organization mega-drives.
• Campus Ambassador Program (CAP) Student internship program operated in partnership with Gift of Life Marrow Registry, in which college students serve as on-campus representatives to organize donor drives, educate peers, and grow the registry. Ambassadors develop leadership and communication skills through hands-on community outreach.
• 15 Minutes to Save a Life Guest Speaker Program Presentation program in which PLM representatives speak at campus organizations, Greek houses, and athletic teams for approximately 15 minutes to educate attendees about bone marrow donation and register donors on the spot via cheek swab.
• Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Donor Registry Recruitment PLM operates as a donor recruitment organization contributing to the global stem cell and bone marrow registry. Individuals join via a simple cheek swab; the registry is searched by doctors worldwide to find matches for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell disease, and other blood conditions.
• Financial Donation Platform Donation acceptance service allowing supporters to make tax-deductible financial contributions to PLM as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations fund registry drives, campus ambassador activities, educational materials, and operational costs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 41,700+ new donors added to the global registry since 2019
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Gift of Life Marrow RegistrycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Project Life Movement partners with Gift of Life Marrow Registry as its clinical partner to increase the pool of stem cell and bone marrow donors nationwide. Gift of Life provides quick and easy-to-use mobile app technology for registration, manages donor data, handles matching coordination, and facilitates transplant logistics. This partnership, established in 2018, enables Project Life Movement to leverage operational efficiencies and expand its mission through established infrastructure.
• Athletic Conferences and Greek OrganizationscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProject Life Movement has affiliations with athletic conferences, Greek organizations, and other campus organizations across the country to build the national registry with a diverse donor base. These partners host registration events on their campuses and help recruit members as potential donors.
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProject Life Movement has partnered with many HBCUs to add more diversity to the bone marrow registry. These partnerships address the urgent need for minority donors, as ethnic minorities are underrepresented on registries and patients from the same racial background have the best chance of finding matches.
• NFL (Luke Kuechly as National Ambassador)flagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerLuke Kuechly, Carolina Panther and NFL Hall of Famer, serves as National Ambassador for Project Life Movement. His induction into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2026 brings significant visibility to the organization and its mission. He actively encourages others to join the bone marrow and stem cell registry.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• DKMS: Global bone marrow donor center headquartered in Germany with major US operations, recruiting donors worldwide through university and community drives. Directly comparable mission and target demographic, with much larger operational scale and international reach.
• Be The Match (National Marrow Donor Program): Operated by the National Marrow Donor Program, Be The Match is the largest and most established bone marrow donor registry in the US, directly competing with PLM for university partnerships and donor registrations with substantially greater resources and brand recognition.
• The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS): Large, established nonprofit funding blood cancer research and patient support, including partnerships that support donor registry growth. Comparable health nonprofit space with overlapping mission around blood cancer patient outcomes, though LLS is broader in scope and does not run direct donor drives.

Emerging players

• Love Hope Strength Foundation: Recruits bone marrow donors through music events, concerts, and athletic gatherings rather than traditional campus drives. Comparable mission with a differentiated acquisition channel, providing an alternative model to PLM's campus-centric approach.
• A3M (Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches): Recruits bone marrow donors with specific focus on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Comparable niche diversity-driven approach to PLM's HBCU strategy, though focused on a different underrepresented ethnicity segment.

Direct peers

• Icla da Silva Foundation: Nonprofit focused on recruiting bone marrow donors with particular emphasis on minority and mixed-ethnicity patients. Closely comparable niche focus on diversity-driven donor recruitment, directly competing for the same HBCU and minority-targeted campus partnerships.
• Anthony Nolan: UK-based charity operating one of the world's largest bone marrow donor registries with active donor recruitment on university campuses. Comparable mission, donor demographic focus, and university partnership model, though geographically concentrated in the UK.
• Gift of Life Marrow Registry: PLM's clinical partner and also an independent donor recruitment organization running its own campus drives and registry operations. Highly comparable mission and model, though Gift of Life also operates the underlying technology infrastructure PLM depends on.

Others

• Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California: Disease-focused nonprofit addressing sickle cell disease, one of the conditions PLM donor recruitment directly serves. Thematically related and partially overlapping beneficiary community, though not a direct donor recruitment competitor.
• CureSearch for Children's Cancer: Nonprofit funding children's cancer research and support, including conditions for which PLM donors provide marrow transplants. Adjacent mission area serving a partially overlapping patient population, though not a direct peer in donor recruitment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/projectlifemvt
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCHAnyu1GBwdG6hMfCLj1lEw
• Facebookfacebook.com/projectlifemvt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/project-life-movement
• Instagraminstagram.com/projectlifemovement

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Project Life Movement